“If you happen to come across a wild animal, DON’T run…food runs”
This was the message my wildlife tour guide drilled into my head as we were trekking through Tanzania.
And every single time I go back there or think about that lesson I’m reminded of how much it applies beyond the wild of Tanzania.
The idea of “food runs” is that our natural instinct of running away from a wild animal, does more harm than good because that wild animal associates running with food that it chases and eats.
When it comes to novel, uncertain and potentially risky situations (like meeting a wild animal) our instincts are oftentimes wrong simply because we don’t have the experience on how to navigate the situation correctly (which my guide fortunately did!).
I see the same thing happening when people think about increasing the certainty in their financial lives.
Their instinct in times of uncertainty (like this COVID pandemic) is to freeze…to hold out and wait for “normal” to reset itself before making any moves.
Yet as my experienced guide pointed out to me, our instinct in those uncertain times is the wrong action!
In terms of creating more financial certainty, interest rates are at an all time low and even with basic adjustments you can gain back thousands of dollars a year (as cash in hand or cash for investment properties)
More people are in that same ‘freeze instinct’ which means less competition for properties that are cash flow positive.
Less deals being made means more opportunity to get financing for investments or cash you initially weren’t eligible for because times were “normal”.
In essence, following your instinct to stand still means becoming the “food that runs”.
And of course each individual situation is nuanced but the instinct to freeze is universal, which makes the opportunity in front of you even greater.
It’s not uncommon for me to find multiple different opportunities for people looking to improve their financial situation and that’s without the leverage points we’re going through in this pandemic.
I can normally see the blindspots in a quick 15min call so reply back to this post and let’s set up a time to talk =)